Monday, October 19, 2009

This old fashioned recipe recalls a time when people couldn't afford to be as wasteful as we often are today.

When I mention corn cob jelly people often wrinkle their nose as if I must be talking about something poisonous. Some of the finickiness that our society has developed is unfortunate because, quite frankly, corn cob jelly tastes good.

I always make it with the red cobs that come from dent corn (the type of corn that is fed to cattle and squirrels). As an Iowa girl, I have fields full of dent corn all around me. If you are not lucky enough to have a corn field outside your back door, you can get some corn that is sold for squirrels and shell it.

I have seen recipes that call for the cobs from sweet corn, but I have never tried it. I imagine that it would still have the hint of corn taste in it, but I am not sure what color it would be, since sweet corn has white cobs. Perhaps I should try it some time and see what it is like.

Break cobs in half. Add water and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain in a damp Jelly Jelly Strainer. If necessary, add enough water to make 3 cups of liquid. Add sugar and bring to a rolling boil. Add pectin and return to a rolling boil. Boil hard for 1 minute. Fill hot canning jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Add lids and process in a water bath for 10 minutes.

15 comments:

I almost want to say that my grandmother made this jelly, but I can't really say with certainty. If she knew about it, I am sure she would have because she was quite frugal, having endured the depression years.

My grandmother talked about making this jelly! Once, I was telling her about allrecipes.com and how they pretty much have recipes for anything a person would want to make. Well, she said "I bet they don't have a recipe for corn cob jelly!" Yep, she was right...LOL!

I made a similar recipe a few months ago and sadly it didn't gel. That rarely happens but is so frustrating when it does! It has a mild corn flavor but really tastes more like a mild honey than anything else. I made it in small jars to use as gifts with bread but will keep it to use a glaze for pork and such in the crockpot this winter.

I've made this for my family in WA with sweet corn, added red food coloring and they loved it. It was in a cookbook sold by the local Chilerns Hospital. One of my son's wives took it and I've been lost without it!!I will make this for my family for Christmas this year. Thank you for publishing this OLD Depression Jelly!!!

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Check out Iowa State University's Extension Office advice about container vegetable gardening. There are several other useful sites about growing vegetables in pots. This is just one spot to get you started.